St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church Newcomers Page

Welcome Newcomers

Pastor: Fr. Jose Thomas Mudakodiyil

I am very happy to welcome you to our exciting St. Francis of Assisi Parish Website. Our intent is to reach you wherever you are. This will help us to stay connected as a Church family, even when you cannot be physically present in the Church with the rest of the Church community. This website will give you an amazing overview of the Church and its activities. I hope you will find it useful and can find all the information you are looking for. We have tried to make it as informative and user-friendly as possible. I want to invite you to browse through the various pages of our website.

Our Church offers a number of ministries in which you can get involved in the Church. It is my prayer that all the parishioners who browse through this website will be inspired to get involved in one or more ministries in our Church. Please give it some thought and prayer. All that we have comes from God. Let us give back to him as good stewards by sharing our time, talent, and material resources with the Church. "Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing will be poured out into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will, in return, be measured out to you” (Luke 6:38). Have a great time browsing through the pages of this website.

I am Rev. Rene Lacena Labrador, a Filipino priest from the Diocese of Boac, Marinduque, Philippines. I was born March 23, 1963.

I am the fourth child of Ernesto Labrador and Anacita Lacena (both deceased). With God’s special grace, I received the Sacred Ordination to the Priesthood on May 18, 1991. I have been blessed as a priest for the past 31 years..

From 1994 to 2004, I was assigned as a seminary formator, a philosophy teacher and Spiritual Director at St. Aloysius College Seminary in the Philippines. After 10 years of my ministry in the seminary, I was sent to the U.S. to assist the Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in San Antonio, TX. Then after a year, I was sent to serve in the Diocese of Dodge City, KN. I had a very fruitful and blessed 12 years of ministry in Southwest Kansas.

In 2018, I moved to the Diocese of Sacramento, CA. I served as Parochial Vicar of the Holy Rosary Church, in Woodland, CA. In 2019-2021, I was the Parish Administrator of Holy Cross Church, in Tulelake, CA, and Our Lady of Good Counsel Mission Church, in Dorris CA.

I have been blessed to serve the many and diverse churches here in the United States of America for the past 17 years. Now, through the grace of God, I am sent to serve you and the entire parish family of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Bend. I know that every church and parish has its own blessings and challenges. So, please offer a short prayer for me as I begin my ministry with you.

Thank you and I look forward to serving you all.
-Fr. Rene Labrador

Fr. Rene Lacena Labrador

Deacon Philip McCarty

Deacon Phil and Kerry McCarty have recently relocated to Bend from San Jose, CA.

Deacon Phil is a San Francisco Bay area native and is semi-retired from a career in management and sales. He was ordained a permanent deacon for the diocese of San Jose in 2018, and he has served at St. Leo the Great Parish in San Jose since then.

Kerry is a native Oregonian, having grown up in the Medford area. She is a University of Oregon alumna, and she is retired from a career in residential real estate.

Deacon Phil and Kerry have been married for 31 years, and they have two adult sons. Their older son, Andrew, lives in San Francisco, and their younger son, Alex, lives in New York City.

Deacon Phil and Kerry McCarty are avid fans of the San Francisco Giants and the Oregon Ducks, and they are excited to call Bend their new home.